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The Man Who Lives with Wolves
What would compel a man to place himself in constant danger in order to become a member of a wolf pack? To eat with them, putting his head into a carcass alongside the wolves' gnashing teeth? To play, hunt, and spar with them, suffering bruises and bites? To learn their language so his howl is indistinguishable from theirs? To give up a normal life of relationships and family so that he can devote himself completely to the protection of these wild animals?
In The Man Who Lives with Wolves , Shaun Ellis reveals how his life irrevocably changed the first time he set eyes on a wolf. In exhilarating prose, he takes us from his upbringing in the wilds of Norfolk, England, to his survival training with British Army Special Forces to the Nez Percé Indian lands in Idaho, where he first ran with a wolf pack for nearly two years.
Offering an extraordinary look into the lives of these threatened, misunderstood creatures, Ellis shares how he ate raw kill–and little else; washed rarely, and only in plain water; learned to bury his face into the carcasses of prey–and, when necessary, to defend his share of the kill; communicated with the pack by his howls and body language, which over time became seemingly identical to theirs; and observed from this unique vantage point how wolves give birth to and raise their young, and enforce order among the pack.
After years of living in the wild, Shaun Ellis was barely able to recognize the feral face that stared back at him from the mirror. And in The Man Who Lives with Wolves , we discover the life of a rare and fascinating man who abandoned civilization but never lost touch with his humanity.
In The Man Who Lives with Wolves , Shaun Ellis reveals how his life irrevocably changed the first time he set eyes on a wolf. In exhilarating prose, he takes us from his upbringing in the wilds of Norfolk, England, to his survival training with British Army Special Forces to the Nez Percé Indian lands in Idaho, where he first ran with a wolf pack for nearly two years.
Offering an extraordinary look into the lives of these threatened, misunderstood creatures, Ellis shares how he ate raw kill–and little else; washed rarely, and only in plain water; learned to bury his face into the carcasses of prey–and, when necessary, to defend his share of the kill; communicated with the pack by his howls and body language, which over time became seemingly identical to theirs; and observed from this unique vantage point how wolves give birth to and raise their young, and enforce order among the pack.
After years of living in the wild, Shaun Ellis was barely able to recognize the feral face that stared back at him from the mirror. And in The Man Who Lives with Wolves , we discover the life of a rare and fascinating man who abandoned civilization but never lost touch with his humanity.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
50 people are currently reading
1021 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 126 reviews
September 22, 2019
It is a great book about a man and his love for and relationship with wolves. How he was able to spend 2 years in the wilderness living like a wolf and being accepted in a wolf pack, or spending 18 months in a rescue park in England raising several wolf pups who had lost their mother. I give him much credit for his willingness to do this. The down side - relationships with loved ones suffered greatly. He always favored the wolfs, never the people. Anyway, learned so much.
July 14, 2010
I learned alot about animals and was able to apply it to my rescue dog...changed his food and figured out what his personality type is, as well as what he is communicating to me...it was right on target!!!!!!!!!
March 12, 2012
I have always liked wolves and have felt for years that these animals are not the monsters that a lot of people make them out to be and how fairy tales have contributed to the many untruths of these amazing animals. Every person on this planet needs to not only read this book but they should also see the 1983 movie "Never Cry Wolf".
I hate the ranchers who think their land only belongs to them. And I am furious when I hear that wolves that have been reintroduced into Yellowstone Park, etc. are hunted and slaughtered again. Can you believe that the state of Alaska actually allows hunters to hunt wolves with the use of helicopters? After I heard and read about these incidents I want nothing to do with that state. I think wolves have an incredible social hierarchy that humans could certainly learn from. I have never been afraid of wolves and never will be.
If you love animals I strongly recommend this book to you. It was an eye opener for me and I am so glad I found this book on my library shelf. If you don't think you like wolves then I think this book would most likely change your mind.
I hate the ranchers who think their land only belongs to them. And I am furious when I hear that wolves that have been reintroduced into Yellowstone Park, etc. are hunted and slaughtered again. Can you believe that the state of Alaska actually allows hunters to hunt wolves with the use of helicopters? After I heard and read about these incidents I want nothing to do with that state. I think wolves have an incredible social hierarchy that humans could certainly learn from. I have never been afraid of wolves and never will be.
If you love animals I strongly recommend this book to you. It was an eye opener for me and I am so glad I found this book on my library shelf. If you don't think you like wolves then I think this book would most likely change your mind.
April 1, 2012
I heard about this book when I was looking at Jodi Picoult's new book, Lone Wolf. Picoult said she got a lot of good information about wolves from Shaun Ellis, so I looked up his website and then discovered his book.
Ellis is the title character in the TV series "Living With The Wolfman," but that just scratches the surface. He forges a deep connection with wild creatures early in life and even goes out into the wilderness for months to live with a wild pack of wolves. The book shows his passion for wolves and the wealth of information he discovers about them, much of which contradicts conventionally held beliefs about wolves. For instance, the alpha wolf is not the one who challenges strangers -- that's the job of the enforcer, the beta wolf. The alpha controls the pack in part by choosing what the pack will eat.
If you love wolves, you won't want to miss this.
Ellis is the title character in the TV series "Living With The Wolfman," but that just scratches the surface. He forges a deep connection with wild creatures early in life and even goes out into the wilderness for months to live with a wild pack of wolves. The book shows his passion for wolves and the wealth of information he discovers about them, much of which contradicts conventionally held beliefs about wolves. For instance, the alpha wolf is not the one who challenges strangers -- that's the job of the enforcer, the beta wolf. The alpha controls the pack in part by choosing what the pack will eat.
If you love wolves, you won't want to miss this.
January 2, 2014
This was an interesting book. I really enjoyed learning about the wolves and how they interact in nature without any influence from humans. If the book had been primarily about this topic it would have had 5 stars for sure. It definitely made me think about how my dog fits into my family and why she acts the ways that she does.
The one thing I didn't like about this book is the author himself. Before I picked up this book I'd never heard of the man before I guess he has had some television shows and documentaries. From the writings in the book he really seemed like a dick. Don't get me wrong he does fantastic work with the wolves and wildlife but he seems to treat humans in his life not very well. He either doesn't know how to deal with them or this was exaggerated for drama in the novel.
The one thing I didn't like about this book is the author himself. Before I picked up this book I'd never heard of the man before I guess he has had some television shows and documentaries. From the writings in the book he really seemed like a dick. Don't get me wrong he does fantastic work with the wolves and wildlife but he seems to treat humans in his life not very well. He either doesn't know how to deal with them or this was exaggerated for drama in the novel.
Read
November 19, 2009Wow! A must read for anyone interested in ecology, wolves, dogs. This man was incredibly real, honest, vulnerable. I loved every minute of the book.
September 15, 2011
Shaun Ellis lived for two years with a wolf pack in the Idaho wilds, eating what they ate, learning his position in the pack, and being cared for by this wild animals. He neither saw nor spoke to anyone during this time. Although he was criticized by scientists, his ground breaking discoveries have forever changed the human view of the wolf as a dangerous, fearsome creature. If human beings lived more like the wolves, the world would be a better place. You will be amazed at what you will learn about reading your own dog actions and how to choose the right puppy from Ellison's descriptions of wolf behavior. Ellison grew up in Great Britain, joined the military and describes how many of the armed forces survival techniques are actually copied animal survival strategies. He has worked with military dogs and now operates a wolf preserve in England. His story was told on Animal Planet a few years ago. Ellison's is a fascinating story and a book I will probably return to again.
May 5, 2012
Learned about the author and wolf researcher of this book while reading a dull Jodie Picoult novel entitled "The Lone Wolf." The only thing I like about her novel was the story within the story based on the real man Shaun Ellis. Ellis really did live with a wild pack of wolves for two years. "Ellis shares how he ate raw kill; washed rarely, and only in plain water to keep his scent; learned to bury his face into the carcasses of prey–and, when necessary, to defend his share of the kill; communicated with the pack by his howls and body language, which over time became seemingly identical to theirs." He learned to internalize pack order and the importanceof each wolf's role in the pack. Ellis insists that power of the wolf is not that he or she can kill you, but rather chooses not to. Fasinating.
January 17, 2013
This book was a dollar store find for me. I almost did not buy this book. In high school I wrote a research paper about wolves for my Wildlife Ecology class. I was curious about these animals beyond what I learned in school. This book would have been a great find back then if it had existed. In the beginning of this book which is mostly autobiographical rather than scientific research related. Ellis talks about his upbringing and how he never met his Father and so on. I was really more interested in his experiences with wolves which comes later. The second half of the book goes into more about how he visited places in the world that still have wild wolves like Idaho, Poland, and living with wolves in captivity. At first I found some of the things he does with the wolves unbelievable. He goes beyond what most sane people would ever attempt. Ellis does care for these animals and will go to great lengths to protect them which is commendable. I also liked what he had to say about other wildlife and dog training. This makes me want to read dog training books now. I am glad I picked up this book and read it. If you have any interest in reading about wolves or wild animals this would be a good choice.
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August 3, 2011This is an amazing book. I learned a lot about wolves (and dogs too). Wolves really are amazing creatures and it was so cool (and weird and scary) how Ellis was able to infiltrate a wild pack. Some highlights - he didn't take a shower and stayed in the same clothes for like 2 years. The wolf pack he became a part of would go hunting and bring him back a deer leg to eat (yes, he lived on raw meat for almost 2 years). **Spoiler alert*** The only reason he left the pack was because he could feel his body deteriorating after so long on that type of a diet. AMAZING story about how one of the wolves saved his life.
A lot of the book is random and could have probably used more editing, but it gives you a sense of this guy's persona..very different indeed. If you like adventure - into the wild type or wilderness survival stories, I think you'd like this book.
A lot of the book is random and could have probably used more editing, but it gives you a sense of this guy's persona..very different indeed. If you like adventure - into the wild type or wilderness survival stories, I think you'd like this book.
March 29, 2016
For as long as I could remember, I've always had a fascination with wolves. Big animal lover that I am, still there was just something about these animals that made me pay more attention to them.
They were such a mystery to me, I've always been skeptical about "the big bad wolf" thing. I felt like there was more to these animals than the stereotypes and generalizations given to them by ignorant people.
I have seen Shaun's show in the Animal Planet and I was flabbergasted. How did this man do it? How did he manage to learn so much about the wolf? As far as I knew, no modern naturalist has done what he was currently doing.
This book is such an informative and interesting read. Eye opening. Quite fun too! Shaun shared so many of his experiences with them and a lot of these were very memorable and astonishing. I love this book. More animal books please!
They were such a mystery to me, I've always been skeptical about "the big bad wolf" thing. I felt like there was more to these animals than the stereotypes and generalizations given to them by ignorant people.
I have seen Shaun's show in the Animal Planet and I was flabbergasted. How did this man do it? How did he manage to learn so much about the wolf? As far as I knew, no modern naturalist has done what he was currently doing.
This book is such an informative and interesting read. Eye opening. Quite fun too! Shaun shared so many of his experiences with them and a lot of these were very memorable and astonishing. I love this book. More animal books please!
September 27, 2009
I just finished translating this book and absolutely loved it. It's a fascinating mixture of a coming of age story and sound information about almost everything you ever wanted to know about wolves.
November 12, 2013
Shaun Ellis first worked with captive wolves in his native England. Soon he wondered what it would be like to live with wild wolves. Not just observe them, mind you. Live with them. Biologists that learned of his goal either pooh-poohed or opposed it. But Ellis is not a scientist—he’s a former British commando—and, as he wrote, “I didn’t have a reputation to lose, as they did. I didn’t have a fear of not succeeding; I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
He prepared in a military way. He ran, walked, and lifted weights. He studied maps, read books, and talked to tribal elders who lived in Idaho, where he would go to seek wolves. He pulled together a sparse collection of gear that makes ultralight camping look extravagant. He had “a kind of second skin” that replaced underwear, three pairs of socks, walking boots, jeans, a couple of top layers, a quilted jumpsuit, and a hat. He had a rucksack with a water bottle and purification tablets, knife, map, compass, and signal flare. He took a notebook and pen. He had some wire and string for making snares and some beef jerky in case he had difficulty finding food. That’s it. He took no sleeping bag or any kind of shelter. “I wanted to be as much like a lone wolf as I could, so fire was out of the question and a sleeping bag would just have been a nuisance.”
And then—with winter ahead—he followed the Salmon River deep into Idaho’s Rocky Mountains. “I was stepping into the unknown—against all advice—and I wasn’t sure whether, or for how long, I would be able to cope. The temperatures dropped to dangerous levels at night at that altitude, and if the cold didn’t kill me—or the wolves—there was always the possibility of an angry bear or some other predator.”
For the first four fear-filled nights, he slept fitfully in a tree. One day he snared his first rabbit and ate it raw “…it was strong, gamey meat; but I had to be really hungry, which I was later, to eat the rest of the animal—and starving to eat the stomach contents.”
He lived alone in the wilderness for two and a half months before he found the first trace of a wolf, tracks near a water hole. He found no other signs for the next three weeks until a wolf howled. Three more empty weeks passed and then a big wolf crossed quickly in front of him about 150 meters away. He so wanted to get near that—or any—wolf that he became a nocturnal creature. After scary nights bumping and banging through the forest, he found his night vision, sense of smell, and hearing improved.
Another month passed before a big black wolf emerged from the tree line, stopped, stared, and departed. For the next month he saw the wolf every few days. A couple of weeks later, Ellis decided to howl and see what happened. “Minutes passed, which felt like hours, and then the silence was broken by a long mellifluous howl that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I had a reply…it was a miracle.”
Ellis patiently worked his way into living with the black wolf’s pack. Acceptance was painful. The pack was playing nearby when a big male broke away and ran toward Ellis. Three times the wolf nipped the flesh beneath Ellis’s knees with his incisors and drew blood. This was exactly what the beta male at the wildlife park in England had done before accepting Ellis into their pack. On all fours, Ellis followed the black wolf to the rest of the Idaho pack.
As he grew to know these wild animals that he refers to as his family, he compared them with captive wolves. “The language they used was similar but these wolves were stronger, and they were constantly on guard…one of them was always on the lookout…Their play-fights and games were far more intense than those of captive wolves.” He played with the wolves, and they were as rough with him as they were with their pack mates. He ate raw meat with them; a young female brought him the leg of a red deer. “I was hungry and after months of nothing bigger than rabbit, it tasted fantastic.”
He lived with the wolves throughout the winter, though he does not describe the snowstorms and bitter cold he must have experienced in the mountains. That lack of description so troubled me that I wondered if Ellis was for real. I stopped reading and searched the web for info on him. There’s plenty, including videos from the BBC and National Geographic. Convinced, I returned to the book.
One day Ellis was kneeling at a stream splashing water onto his face when he happened to catch sight of his reflection. “I hadn’t seen myself in months and I didn’t recognize the face that looked back at me. It was thin and gaunt with sunken, darkened eyes; long matted hair; and a bushy beard…it shocked me to the core.” He had lost forty-nine pounds and his health was beginning to deteriorate. It was time to leave.
Thus the first half of the book ends. The second half recounts his efforts to reintegrate into human society and to improve the lives of wolves in captivity—some of which he also lived with. He describes training dogs, using interesting techniques learned while living with wolves. He talks about using recorded howls to modify the behavior of wild wolves in Europe. (A technique now used to move wolves away from livestock in the U.S.)
Ellis and his cowriter Penny Junor provide vivid descriptions of his two years living with those wild Idaho wolves that fed him and kept him warm and safe. There’s much to learn from his first hand observations about the wolves’ relationships to one another and function within the pack, about howling, hunting, and breeding. About the obsession of one man to endure danger and hardship to live with wild wolves.
He prepared in a military way. He ran, walked, and lifted weights. He studied maps, read books, and talked to tribal elders who lived in Idaho, where he would go to seek wolves. He pulled together a sparse collection of gear that makes ultralight camping look extravagant. He had “a kind of second skin” that replaced underwear, three pairs of socks, walking boots, jeans, a couple of top layers, a quilted jumpsuit, and a hat. He had a rucksack with a water bottle and purification tablets, knife, map, compass, and signal flare. He took a notebook and pen. He had some wire and string for making snares and some beef jerky in case he had difficulty finding food. That’s it. He took no sleeping bag or any kind of shelter. “I wanted to be as much like a lone wolf as I could, so fire was out of the question and a sleeping bag would just have been a nuisance.”
And then—with winter ahead—he followed the Salmon River deep into Idaho’s Rocky Mountains. “I was stepping into the unknown—against all advice—and I wasn’t sure whether, or for how long, I would be able to cope. The temperatures dropped to dangerous levels at night at that altitude, and if the cold didn’t kill me—or the wolves—there was always the possibility of an angry bear or some other predator.”
For the first four fear-filled nights, he slept fitfully in a tree. One day he snared his first rabbit and ate it raw “…it was strong, gamey meat; but I had to be really hungry, which I was later, to eat the rest of the animal—and starving to eat the stomach contents.”
He lived alone in the wilderness for two and a half months before he found the first trace of a wolf, tracks near a water hole. He found no other signs for the next three weeks until a wolf howled. Three more empty weeks passed and then a big wolf crossed quickly in front of him about 150 meters away. He so wanted to get near that—or any—wolf that he became a nocturnal creature. After scary nights bumping and banging through the forest, he found his night vision, sense of smell, and hearing improved.
Another month passed before a big black wolf emerged from the tree line, stopped, stared, and departed. For the next month he saw the wolf every few days. A couple of weeks later, Ellis decided to howl and see what happened. “Minutes passed, which felt like hours, and then the silence was broken by a long mellifluous howl that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I had a reply…it was a miracle.”
Ellis patiently worked his way into living with the black wolf’s pack. Acceptance was painful. The pack was playing nearby when a big male broke away and ran toward Ellis. Three times the wolf nipped the flesh beneath Ellis’s knees with his incisors and drew blood. This was exactly what the beta male at the wildlife park in England had done before accepting Ellis into their pack. On all fours, Ellis followed the black wolf to the rest of the Idaho pack.
As he grew to know these wild animals that he refers to as his family, he compared them with captive wolves. “The language they used was similar but these wolves were stronger, and they were constantly on guard…one of them was always on the lookout…Their play-fights and games were far more intense than those of captive wolves.” He played with the wolves, and they were as rough with him as they were with their pack mates. He ate raw meat with them; a young female brought him the leg of a red deer. “I was hungry and after months of nothing bigger than rabbit, it tasted fantastic.”
He lived with the wolves throughout the winter, though he does not describe the snowstorms and bitter cold he must have experienced in the mountains. That lack of description so troubled me that I wondered if Ellis was for real. I stopped reading and searched the web for info on him. There’s plenty, including videos from the BBC and National Geographic. Convinced, I returned to the book.
One day Ellis was kneeling at a stream splashing water onto his face when he happened to catch sight of his reflection. “I hadn’t seen myself in months and I didn’t recognize the face that looked back at me. It was thin and gaunt with sunken, darkened eyes; long matted hair; and a bushy beard…it shocked me to the core.” He had lost forty-nine pounds and his health was beginning to deteriorate. It was time to leave.
Thus the first half of the book ends. The second half recounts his efforts to reintegrate into human society and to improve the lives of wolves in captivity—some of which he also lived with. He describes training dogs, using interesting techniques learned while living with wolves. He talks about using recorded howls to modify the behavior of wild wolves in Europe. (A technique now used to move wolves away from livestock in the U.S.)
Ellis and his cowriter Penny Junor provide vivid descriptions of his two years living with those wild Idaho wolves that fed him and kept him warm and safe. There’s much to learn from his first hand observations about the wolves’ relationships to one another and function within the pack, about howling, hunting, and breeding. About the obsession of one man to endure danger and hardship to live with wild wolves.
June 19, 2025
Read this shortly after finishing Jodi Picoults "Lone Wolf' to read the true account of someone who lived with a pack of wolves. Never appreciated until now how fascinating Wolves are and how a pack is formed with every member having a unique role.
Read
July 24, 2011Kindled for £8. An excellent book, and I hope the beginnings of a new genre of "animal anthropology" (perhaps together with that Grizzly Man film?) all about a man who went and "infiltrated" a wild wolf pack (actually at least 5 wolf packs, each taking at least a year). He had to learn all about their culture (culture as communication, Hall) to do so, but he succeeded beyond even his own wildest dreams and was accepted and fed by the wolves, took part in their howls. When he came back he started using what he had learnt to instruct wildlife parks and zoos and even people who keep dogs into how to sort out behavioural problems. Three quotes to highlight some of the best parts about the book - I'll skip over his talking about having blood in his urine, how being on a diet of raw meat and nuts for two years finally started killing him and his buildup to being accepted into his wolf pack, and information about how the pack goes about - the hunter is a female, the alpha is usually a female, etc.
#1 Huge amounts of new information about wolf communication (via body language, pack-hierarchy, ear signs and howling.
There's a lot of information in a howl. It can be that they've lost a member of the pack and they howl to see if they can call it home, but they also howl to defend territory, to tell individuals or other packs where they are, and to rally the troops. If the howl is cut off short, it means danger, stay where you are, stop doing what you're doing, I'm taking charge. If it goes on for a long time then tapers off it means quite the reverse - keep doing what you're doing. If it's low and deep it is defensive, warning rival packs to stay away. The whole pack will howl together if they are under threat, and the mid-ranking wolves will even disguise their voices and use yips and yelps between howls to give the impression that their pack is larger than it actually is.
...
"On one occasion Tamaska gave the most extraordinary howl, one that I'd never heard before. It was like four little barks and a howl, but it sounded as though something was wrong, so I went running out to the enclosure and found there was a white plastic bucket in the primate enclosure nearby that was being blown about in the wind and making a noise he didn't recognize, and it was distressing him. He was giving a long-range warning call that I hadn't yet taught any of them. He'd learned the rallying howl and the short-range defensive uf-uffing noise, and had simply put the two of them together to call me back from a distance and tell me there was something wrong."
#2 (A drunk man keeps sending a group of captive wolves wild when he walks past them.)
"We videoed him to see if we could work out what was going on, and then one of the biologists produced a video he had made of wolves hunting among a herd of bison. One of the bison calves was injured and when we played the footage of the calf on a television screen alongside the footage of the handler staggering, we realized that the pattern of their movement was exactly the same. The wolves were not reacting to the alcohol; they were seeing the straggling handler as prey and the chances are they would have taken him if they had been able to get to him."
...
"My theory is they no longer recognise us as fellow predators. It's arguable that because of our modern diet - a lot of which is carbohydrate and junk food, not to mention the people who are purely vegetarian - we smell more and more like prey animals. We behave more like prey, too. Our ancestors would never have run away at the sight of a wolf or a bear or a mountain lion - their heartbeats wouldn't have raced, they wouldn't have broken into sweats or rolled their eyes like frightened zebras.
#3 Humour and personal experience:
(A US Senator is passing through the reserve of a group of Native Americans whom he adores.)
"My fears seemed to be confirmed. They appeared to be taken in by his demeanour, to be sucking up to him; they were feeling his suit and admiring his shoes and patting him on the shoulder. It was like something out of a novel - the poor barefoot savage overwhelmingly impressed by the white man. They invited him to see all the most important areas and introduced him to all the most important people. The icing on the cake was when they gave him a tribal name, which was the biggest honour they can bestow on an outsider. They called him Walking Eagle, which seemed to me to be about as noble as a name could get until I discovered that it meant he was so full of shit he couldn't fly..."
#1 Huge amounts of new information about wolf communication (via body language, pack-hierarchy, ear signs and howling.
There's a lot of information in a howl. It can be that they've lost a member of the pack and they howl to see if they can call it home, but they also howl to defend territory, to tell individuals or other packs where they are, and to rally the troops. If the howl is cut off short, it means danger, stay where you are, stop doing what you're doing, I'm taking charge. If it goes on for a long time then tapers off it means quite the reverse - keep doing what you're doing. If it's low and deep it is defensive, warning rival packs to stay away. The whole pack will howl together if they are under threat, and the mid-ranking wolves will even disguise their voices and use yips and yelps between howls to give the impression that their pack is larger than it actually is.
...
"On one occasion Tamaska gave the most extraordinary howl, one that I'd never heard before. It was like four little barks and a howl, but it sounded as though something was wrong, so I went running out to the enclosure and found there was a white plastic bucket in the primate enclosure nearby that was being blown about in the wind and making a noise he didn't recognize, and it was distressing him. He was giving a long-range warning call that I hadn't yet taught any of them. He'd learned the rallying howl and the short-range defensive uf-uffing noise, and had simply put the two of them together to call me back from a distance and tell me there was something wrong."
#2 (A drunk man keeps sending a group of captive wolves wild when he walks past them.)
"We videoed him to see if we could work out what was going on, and then one of the biologists produced a video he had made of wolves hunting among a herd of bison. One of the bison calves was injured and when we played the footage of the calf on a television screen alongside the footage of the handler staggering, we realized that the pattern of their movement was exactly the same. The wolves were not reacting to the alcohol; they were seeing the straggling handler as prey and the chances are they would have taken him if they had been able to get to him."
...
"My theory is they no longer recognise us as fellow predators. It's arguable that because of our modern diet - a lot of which is carbohydrate and junk food, not to mention the people who are purely vegetarian - we smell more and more like prey animals. We behave more like prey, too. Our ancestors would never have run away at the sight of a wolf or a bear or a mountain lion - their heartbeats wouldn't have raced, they wouldn't have broken into sweats or rolled their eyes like frightened zebras.
#3 Humour and personal experience:
(A US Senator is passing through the reserve of a group of Native Americans whom he adores.)
"My fears seemed to be confirmed. They appeared to be taken in by his demeanour, to be sucking up to him; they were feeling his suit and admiring his shoes and patting him on the shoulder. It was like something out of a novel - the poor barefoot savage overwhelmingly impressed by the white man. They invited him to see all the most important areas and introduced him to all the most important people. The icing on the cake was when they gave him a tribal name, which was the biggest honour they can bestow on an outsider. They called him Walking Eagle, which seemed to me to be about as noble as a name could get until I discovered that it meant he was so full of shit he couldn't fly..."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2012
Time Taken To Read - 1.5 days
Blurb From Amazon
What would compel a man to place himself in constant danger in order to become a member of a wolf pack? To eat with them, putting his head into a carcass alongside the wolves' gnashing teeth? To play, hunt, and spar with them, suffering bruises and bites? To learn their language so his howl is indistinguishable from theirs? To give up a normal life of relationships and family so that he can devote himself completely to the protection of these wild animals?
In The Man Who Lives with Wolves, Shaun Ellis reveals how his life irrevocably changed the first time he set eyes on a wolf. In exhilarating prose, he takes us from his upbringing in the wilds of Norfolk, England, to his survival training with British Army Special Forces to the Nez Percé Indian lands in Idaho, where he first ran with a wolf pack for nearly two years.
Offering an extraordinary look into the lives of these threatened, misunderstood creatures, Ellis shares how he ate raw kill–and little else; washed rarely, and only in plain water; learned to bury his face into the carcasses of prey–and, when necessary, to defend his share of the kill; communicated with the pack by his howls and body language, which over time became seemingly identical to theirs; and observed from this unique vantage point how wolves give birth to and raise their young, and enforce order among the pack.
After years of living in the wild, Shaun Ellis was barely able to recognize the feral face that stared back at him from the mirror. And in The Man Who Lives with Wolves, we discover the life of a rare and fascinating man who abandoned civilization but never lost touch with his humanity.
My Review
If your looking for something real life and a bit different you have found it. Who in their right mind would walk away from their family to go live in the wild and try to integrate himself with a pack of wild wolves (and stay alive), that would be Mr Ellis.
The book starts with his childhood and every so often focus on him and his life but mostly it is about his love of animals and being with and around wolves. It is quite informative and really interesting to learn so much about these wonderful beasts and how they live, there are also some beautiful pictures of wolves featured in the middle of the book. Shaun has an interested and somewhat tested theory about some of the similar behaviors between dogs and wolves and how to use that when picking and training your own dog.
Some of the book is disturbing in that you are reading about a man who basically walks out on his family to pursue a life with wild animals, him eating some pretty disgusting things but you learn so much about the wolves way of life that you can get by the more unappealing parts. I really enjoyed it and find myself looking at wolves in a different light, 3/5 for me.
This book was recommended by Jodi Picoult at the end of her new book Lone Wolf, this is who she got a lot of her research from.
Blurb From Amazon
What would compel a man to place himself in constant danger in order to become a member of a wolf pack? To eat with them, putting his head into a carcass alongside the wolves' gnashing teeth? To play, hunt, and spar with them, suffering bruises and bites? To learn their language so his howl is indistinguishable from theirs? To give up a normal life of relationships and family so that he can devote himself completely to the protection of these wild animals?
In The Man Who Lives with Wolves, Shaun Ellis reveals how his life irrevocably changed the first time he set eyes on a wolf. In exhilarating prose, he takes us from his upbringing in the wilds of Norfolk, England, to his survival training with British Army Special Forces to the Nez Percé Indian lands in Idaho, where he first ran with a wolf pack for nearly two years.
Offering an extraordinary look into the lives of these threatened, misunderstood creatures, Ellis shares how he ate raw kill–and little else; washed rarely, and only in plain water; learned to bury his face into the carcasses of prey–and, when necessary, to defend his share of the kill; communicated with the pack by his howls and body language, which over time became seemingly identical to theirs; and observed from this unique vantage point how wolves give birth to and raise their young, and enforce order among the pack.
After years of living in the wild, Shaun Ellis was barely able to recognize the feral face that stared back at him from the mirror. And in The Man Who Lives with Wolves, we discover the life of a rare and fascinating man who abandoned civilization but never lost touch with his humanity.
My Review
If your looking for something real life and a bit different you have found it. Who in their right mind would walk away from their family to go live in the wild and try to integrate himself with a pack of wild wolves (and stay alive), that would be Mr Ellis.
The book starts with his childhood and every so often focus on him and his life but mostly it is about his love of animals and being with and around wolves. It is quite informative and really interesting to learn so much about these wonderful beasts and how they live, there are also some beautiful pictures of wolves featured in the middle of the book. Shaun has an interested and somewhat tested theory about some of the similar behaviors between dogs and wolves and how to use that when picking and training your own dog.
Some of the book is disturbing in that you are reading about a man who basically walks out on his family to pursue a life with wild animals, him eating some pretty disgusting things but you learn so much about the wolves way of life that you can get by the more unappealing parts. I really enjoyed it and find myself looking at wolves in a different light, 3/5 for me.
This book was recommended by Jodi Picoult at the end of her new book Lone Wolf, this is who she got a lot of her research from.
October 11, 2015
Shaun Ellis é um naturalista inglês que tem uma história de vida bastante peculiar. Desde pequeno ele sempre gostou de animais. Criado em uma fazenda em Norfolk,, interior do país, ele cresceu rodeado de cavalos, vacas e, sobretudo, de cachorros. Como era muito sozinho, passou a desenvolver uma espécie de conexão com os bichos, numa forma de aproximá-los de si, como numa conexão. Ele entendia-os, conseguia se comunicar com eles de alguma forma e, bastava se olharem, que ambos, tanto os cachorros quando Ellis, sabiam o que um e outro estavam sentindo e o que queriam dizer naquela hora.
À medida que começou a crescer, Ellis foi se tornando cada vez mais apaixonado pelos bichos e suas diferentes formas de vida. Foi quando um dia, quando estava doente e acamado, um lobo apareceu em sua janela e o encarou. A partir daquele momento, sua curiosidade voltou-se para esse grupo de mamíferos. Como morava perto das florestas daquela região, ele via os animais de vez em quando, nas margens da mata. Mas, mesmo com too esse amor, Shaun decidiu seguir carreira militar e serviu às Forças Armadas britânicas, se especializando em sobrevivência na selva. Foi numa excursão a uma tribo de índios Nez Percé, em Idaho, que sua vida retomou o seu lado selvagem.
Lá ele, durante uma caminhada noturna sozinho, ele se deparou com um lobo, aparentemente o chefe de uma matilha. Ele, o lobo, se aproximou, o cheirou e começou a ter um comportamento pouco usual para um animal selvagem. Posteriormente, Shaun voltou ao mesmo local todas as noites, passando por diversas etapas de reconhecimento pelo bando e percebendo que, na verdade, estava sendo tratado como um deles. Sua vida nunca mais seria a mesma depois disso.
"O Homem que Vivia com Lobos" é a sua autobiografia. Nela, Shaun contará, além de todo o processo que foi passar quase dois anos vivendo como um lobo, em uma matilha no meio da floresta, como foi a sua evolução enquanto naturalista e protetor da vida selvagem.
Para quem não sabe, eu sou Biólogo e sempre gostei bastante de estudar etologia, o ramo da ciência que estuda o comportamento animal. Desde a época de faculdade conhecia a história do autor, embora nunca tenha lido nada sobre ele, nem visto os seus documentários. Assim que soube de sua autobiografia, fiz questão de lê-la. Acredito que esse seja um livro para quem gosta do assunto. Ele é muito específico em diversos momentos e, caso você não se interesse muito por vida selvagem, o fechará na segunda página.
No mais, indico demais a leitura. Sempre adorei autobiografias, o formato é excelente, e, nesse caso, aliado a um assunto que adoro foi um prato cheio.
site: http://www.capaetitulo.com.br/2015/09...
À medida que começou a crescer, Ellis foi se tornando cada vez mais apaixonado pelos bichos e suas diferentes formas de vida. Foi quando um dia, quando estava doente e acamado, um lobo apareceu em sua janela e o encarou. A partir daquele momento, sua curiosidade voltou-se para esse grupo de mamíferos. Como morava perto das florestas daquela região, ele via os animais de vez em quando, nas margens da mata. Mas, mesmo com too esse amor, Shaun decidiu seguir carreira militar e serviu às Forças Armadas britânicas, se especializando em sobrevivência na selva. Foi numa excursão a uma tribo de índios Nez Percé, em Idaho, que sua vida retomou o seu lado selvagem.
Lá ele, durante uma caminhada noturna sozinho, ele se deparou com um lobo, aparentemente o chefe de uma matilha. Ele, o lobo, se aproximou, o cheirou e começou a ter um comportamento pouco usual para um animal selvagem. Posteriormente, Shaun voltou ao mesmo local todas as noites, passando por diversas etapas de reconhecimento pelo bando e percebendo que, na verdade, estava sendo tratado como um deles. Sua vida nunca mais seria a mesma depois disso.
"O Homem que Vivia com Lobos" é a sua autobiografia. Nela, Shaun contará, além de todo o processo que foi passar quase dois anos vivendo como um lobo, em uma matilha no meio da floresta, como foi a sua evolução enquanto naturalista e protetor da vida selvagem.
Para quem não sabe, eu sou Biólogo e sempre gostei bastante de estudar etologia, o ramo da ciência que estuda o comportamento animal. Desde a época de faculdade conhecia a história do autor, embora nunca tenha lido nada sobre ele, nem visto os seus documentários. Assim que soube de sua autobiografia, fiz questão de lê-la. Acredito que esse seja um livro para quem gosta do assunto. Ele é muito específico em diversos momentos e, caso você não se interesse muito por vida selvagem, o fechará na segunda página.
No mais, indico demais a leitura. Sempre adorei autobiografias, o formato é excelente, e, nesse caso, aliado a um assunto que adoro foi um prato cheio.
site: http://www.capaetitulo.com.br/2015/09...
June 24, 2013
Shaun Ellis has devoted his life to the study of wolves and their behavior. He has lived with them night and day for over 20 years, and probably knows more about wolves than anyone else on earth. His absorption with the lives of wolves is so complete that he is uncomfortable in the human world. Two wives have come and gone, unable to tolerate his obsession.
Beginning with his lonely boyhood on a farm with his dogs, he had always studied animal behavior and felt at home in the woods and fields. His life was forever connected to wolves from the first time he saw one in a zoo. His devotion to their cause led him to Idaho to live for two years in the forest with a wild pack. After earning their trust, he ate from their kills, slept with them, learned about their social ranks, and was witness to every aspect of their lives. The Nez Perce' he met while there explained that his life was forever going to be lived with a foot in two worlds - human and wolf.
The time he spent with the wild pack only deepened his desire to be with wolves and understand them better. He searched for ways that wolves and men can live side by side without clashing, even traveling to Poland to help farmers discourage the wolves who were attacking livestock. Discounted by professional biologists for his unorthodox ways, he travels alone and experiments with his theories. Eventually he is able to buy his own land for wolf enclosures, and works at finding wolves to populate it.
At this point, Animal Planet offers to film a series showing his wolves, and him interacting with them. There are several short videos on YouTube if you are interested in seeing Shaun and his wolves. Although I understand that getting his message out to a wider audience is important for the survival of the wild wolf, I disliked reading about the filming schedules and intrusions into the pack. During this time, Shaun's girlfriend struggled with the stress of 24/7 filming and eventually had to leave or have a breakdown.
Shaun Ellis's book is honest, plain speaking and humble. I enjoyed every page of it and couldn't put it down. He corrected several misconceptions I had about wolves, and even explained dog behavior in a way that seems obvious now that I understand better. The only thing that could have made me enjoy this book any more would be if he had included photos.
Part autobiography, part naturalist study, part self analysis, and totally about the lives of wolves, this book is a treasure. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys books on animal behavior, and to those who enjoy books about finding ones passion in life.
Beginning with his lonely boyhood on a farm with his dogs, he had always studied animal behavior and felt at home in the woods and fields. His life was forever connected to wolves from the first time he saw one in a zoo. His devotion to their cause led him to Idaho to live for two years in the forest with a wild pack. After earning their trust, he ate from their kills, slept with them, learned about their social ranks, and was witness to every aspect of their lives. The Nez Perce' he met while there explained that his life was forever going to be lived with a foot in two worlds - human and wolf.
The time he spent with the wild pack only deepened his desire to be with wolves and understand them better. He searched for ways that wolves and men can live side by side without clashing, even traveling to Poland to help farmers discourage the wolves who were attacking livestock. Discounted by professional biologists for his unorthodox ways, he travels alone and experiments with his theories. Eventually he is able to buy his own land for wolf enclosures, and works at finding wolves to populate it.
At this point, Animal Planet offers to film a series showing his wolves, and him interacting with them. There are several short videos on YouTube if you are interested in seeing Shaun and his wolves. Although I understand that getting his message out to a wider audience is important for the survival of the wild wolf, I disliked reading about the filming schedules and intrusions into the pack. During this time, Shaun's girlfriend struggled with the stress of 24/7 filming and eventually had to leave or have a breakdown.
Shaun Ellis's book is honest, plain speaking and humble. I enjoyed every page of it and couldn't put it down. He corrected several misconceptions I had about wolves, and even explained dog behavior in a way that seems obvious now that I understand better. The only thing that could have made me enjoy this book any more would be if he had included photos.
Part autobiography, part naturalist study, part self analysis, and totally about the lives of wolves, this book is a treasure. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys books on animal behavior, and to those who enjoy books about finding ones passion in life.
July 26, 2013
I picked up this book because it was mentioned in The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs and How To Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication and also because of the similarities between wolves and domestic dogs.
This books is an enjoyable read and if it's all true, it's really a remarkable story of survival and dedication. Shaun Ellis was able to live with a wild pack of wolves in Idaho and he literally had to eat what the wolves brought him for 18 months. Ellis says that he was eating better than he ever did after he was brought into the pack and was having parts of carcasses brought to him. I thought this was the most amazing part of the book, even though more time is spent talking about his own personal wolves and his time spent living with them in captivity in the UK. The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars from me is because I would have liked to have seen him spend more time with the wild pack, but I can understand how broken down physically and mentally he must have been at that time.
The man had to sacrifice a lot with his family and personal life, but this was his dream and he was able to acquire a lot of behavioral information about captive and wild wolves. He does a great job to dispel the myths behind this majestic animal.
This is a must-read for anyone interested in wolves simply because he is the one of the few (only?) humans to live in harmony with a wild pack.
This books is an enjoyable read and if it's all true, it's really a remarkable story of survival and dedication. Shaun Ellis was able to live with a wild pack of wolves in Idaho and he literally had to eat what the wolves brought him for 18 months. Ellis says that he was eating better than he ever did after he was brought into the pack and was having parts of carcasses brought to him. I thought this was the most amazing part of the book, even though more time is spent talking about his own personal wolves and his time spent living with them in captivity in the UK. The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars from me is because I would have liked to have seen him spend more time with the wild pack, but I can understand how broken down physically and mentally he must have been at that time.
The man had to sacrifice a lot with his family and personal life, but this was his dream and he was able to acquire a lot of behavioral information about captive and wild wolves. He does a great job to dispel the myths behind this majestic animal.
This is a must-read for anyone interested in wolves simply because he is the one of the few (only?) humans to live in harmony with a wild pack.
August 7, 2012
Shaun Ellis from Great Brittain buys a cheap plane ticket to Northern Idaho. With the clothes on his pack, a few pieces of beef jerkey, he walks into the snowy woods to become a member of a wolf pack.
Jodi Piccoult used this character for her inspiration for her most recent book Lone Wolf. Is it possible..1st could a man really survive a winter in Idaho with minimal food and shelter. Secondly could a human infiltrate a wolf pack.
Ellis shares how he ate raw kill and buriee his face into the flesh of a killed dear amongst the thrashing incisors of his Wolf companions. He describes how he began to take on wolf like trates of marking his territory, and howling at the moon. He slept among the pack to keep warm.
Ellis loved the honesty of the wolf and the order of the pack from alpha to beta male. He sees obvious scenarios between wolf and dog and feels their are no bad dogss, just bad owners.
Finally he walked out of the woods after living with a pack for two years (at one point the pack he tried to mate with him unsucessfully of course). He came in unrecognizable covered in dirt and unable to stomach carbohydrates. He had a hard time connecting again with humankind..a reverse culture shock but much worse.
If this story is all true (Think A million little pieces) Ellis is phenomenal..better than even Bear in the the TV show Man vs. Wild.
Unfortunatly only 2 chapters of the book were focused on this portion of his life..I would have enjoyed more details of temperature, snow fall, location, travel.
Read and enjoy..and learn more about the Wolf.
Jodi Piccoult used this character for her inspiration for her most recent book Lone Wolf. Is it possible..1st could a man really survive a winter in Idaho with minimal food and shelter. Secondly could a human infiltrate a wolf pack.
Ellis shares how he ate raw kill and buriee his face into the flesh of a killed dear amongst the thrashing incisors of his Wolf companions. He describes how he began to take on wolf like trates of marking his territory, and howling at the moon. He slept among the pack to keep warm.
Ellis loved the honesty of the wolf and the order of the pack from alpha to beta male. He sees obvious scenarios between wolf and dog and feels their are no bad dogss, just bad owners.
Finally he walked out of the woods after living with a pack for two years (at one point the pack he tried to mate with him unsucessfully of course). He came in unrecognizable covered in dirt and unable to stomach carbohydrates. He had a hard time connecting again with humankind..a reverse culture shock but much worse.
If this story is all true (Think A million little pieces) Ellis is phenomenal..better than even Bear in the the TV show Man vs. Wild.
Unfortunatly only 2 chapters of the book were focused on this portion of his life..I would have enjoyed more details of temperature, snow fall, location, travel.
Read and enjoy..and learn more about the Wolf.
May 16, 2012
This book is really, really interesting. It's a suggested reading at the end of Jodi Picoult's Lone Wolf (which I also enjoyed), except this is the true story of a guy who actually went and lived with a wild pack of wolves for a while.
It's late, so this is likely to be a disorganized review, so bear with me.
First, I'd like to say that Shaun Ellis does not seem as weird as one would think of someone from the British Isles who came to Idaho to learn about wolves, who thinks one of his brothers is a Native American, and then spent over a year living in the wild with a pack of wolves.
That having been said, while I respect his work a lot, I don't think I like him very much. Mostly because he has 5 kids with two different women, and he's never really around any of them. I'm really not the sort of person who thinks you have to be married to have kids, but I sort of feel like, after so many, you should be able to make a commitment to one of the mothers, and you really ought to spend some time with your kids because their mothers are exhausted! So it's a little hard for me to like him after he shows all of this care towards raising wolves, and very little to taking care of his own kids.
I also learned a lot about the different roles wolves play within the pack and how that translates into dog ownership.
Wow, and it's really late, so I've just run out of things to say. Seriously, though, you really should read this book.
It's late, so this is likely to be a disorganized review, so bear with me.
First, I'd like to say that Shaun Ellis does not seem as weird as one would think of someone from the British Isles who came to Idaho to learn about wolves, who thinks one of his brothers is a Native American, and then spent over a year living in the wild with a pack of wolves.
That having been said, while I respect his work a lot, I don't think I like him very much. Mostly because he has 5 kids with two different women, and he's never really around any of them. I'm really not the sort of person who thinks you have to be married to have kids, but I sort of feel like, after so many, you should be able to make a commitment to one of the mothers, and you really ought to spend some time with your kids because their mothers are exhausted! So it's a little hard for me to like him after he shows all of this care towards raising wolves, and very little to taking care of his own kids.
I also learned a lot about the different roles wolves play within the pack and how that translates into dog ownership.
Wow, and it's really late, so I've just run out of things to say. Seriously, though, you really should read this book.
May 30, 2012
This is definitely the best book I've ever read on wolves. Shaun Ellis is not a scientist. He has no advanced degrees. What he does have is the gift of animal empathy. He has a particular attachment to wolves and their evolutionary descendants, the dogs. I have read statements by biologists that dogs are radically different from wolves. Shaun Ellis is quite certain that dogs and wolves have a great deal in common. Since wolves and dogs can interbreed, they can't be two entirely separate species. His advice about understanding dogs in terms of specific wolf pack roles has the potential to revolutionize the way we look at dogs. It is obvious that wolves and dogs are completely different in their social orientation. Wolves are oriented toward other wolves. Dogs seem to be primarily oriented toward humans. They lack the drive toward the self-sufficiency of a wolf pack. Certainly, that's the result of enculturation. Thousands of years of domestication has bred this wolf sub-species that looks to us rather than their own kind.
For a longer review including comparison to Lone Wolfby Jodi Picoult, see http://maskedpersona.blogspot.com
For a longer review including comparison to Lone Wolfby Jodi Picoult, see http://maskedpersona.blogspot.com
February 11, 2011
An amazing book. It was really interesting to find out about his young childhood, and fasinating how everything in his life previous to his encounter with wolves prepared him for what was to come. It really does look like it was fate for him to become a brother to these amazing animals. The book goes through the stages of his life starting with his early childhood on a farm, and his relationship with the dogs there, and continues through his life in the army and then with the Nez Perce (a tribe of Native Americans), and how he managed to join a wolf pack in the wild. It also talks a lot about his involvement with the cubs he raised and his struggle through filming the documentaries, which suprised me as a lot of the things that happened never came to light in the show properly. It talks of his struggle to house and raise wolf pups based on what he learned the two years he lived in the wild, and his struggle to support himself finaicially during this time, as well as his relationship with the people around him, particullarly Helen (from Mr and Mrs Wolf).
The book itself is very well written, and is very easy to read. A must-buy/read if you love the Wolfman :)
The book itself is very well written, and is very easy to read. A must-buy/read if you love the Wolfman :)
April 12, 2011
If you think you can't get past the fact that this man abandoned his wife and children to go and live with a bunch of animals, don't start reading this book. It's full of 'Boo-hoo, the wolves were my only real family' and 'Sniff, I've never felt more at home than when I was with the wolves' and blah blah blah, which sometimes made me want to scream at the guy. What are you saying, you have five children! FIVE, dude!! ARGH!! O_O
Don't get me wrong, this is one of the best books I've read in a while. But seriously, concentrate on the wonders of the wolves and don't give the man's family life another thought.
I've always loved wolves and always had dogs, and this book taught me more about these wonderful animals than anything I'd ever read before. Ellis takes you on the most amazing ride through wolf country. You get to know the nurturing side of these caring creatures, share their joy when new puppies are born, and want to howl alongside them when they lose a member of their pack. A very well-written, engaging, and so very real story that I will not forget any time soon.
Don't get me wrong, this is one of the best books I've read in a while. But seriously, concentrate on the wonders of the wolves and don't give the man's family life another thought.
I've always loved wolves and always had dogs, and this book taught me more about these wonderful animals than anything I'd ever read before. Ellis takes you on the most amazing ride through wolf country. You get to know the nurturing side of these caring creatures, share their joy when new puppies are born, and want to howl alongside them when they lose a member of their pack. A very well-written, engaging, and so very real story that I will not forget any time soon.
January 28, 2016
This book was incredible!!! I got so much more than I bargained. Not only did I get to read an amazing, moving memoir about a man whose love for wolves is as big as the planet... I got up close and personal with wolf behavior and how that can apply to my own pets.
Chapter 24 and Chapter 25 were invaluable to me in my coming years of thinking of owning a dog. Chapter 24 talks specifically how to pick up the right puppy from a litter in comparison to wolf behavior and how the wolf pack functions. Chapter 25 talks about the right type of training and how difficult it can be to understand your dog's emotions. Now we have dog breeds that have particular traits like flopped over ears and that makes it hard for them to communicate to their owners. Thus, the owners misunderstand and the dog gets punished for acting out in an instinctive way.
If you own a dog... READ THIS BOOK!
If you're thinking about getting a dog... READ THIS BOOK!
You and your pet will greatly benefit from Ellis' years of study and observation. It is also an amazing story about a man and his love for wolves.
Chapter 24 and Chapter 25 were invaluable to me in my coming years of thinking of owning a dog. Chapter 24 talks specifically how to pick up the right puppy from a litter in comparison to wolf behavior and how the wolf pack functions. Chapter 25 talks about the right type of training and how difficult it can be to understand your dog's emotions. Now we have dog breeds that have particular traits like flopped over ears and that makes it hard for them to communicate to their owners. Thus, the owners misunderstand and the dog gets punished for acting out in an instinctive way.
If you own a dog... READ THIS BOOK!
If you're thinking about getting a dog... READ THIS BOOK!
You and your pet will greatly benefit from Ellis' years of study and observation. It is also an amazing story about a man and his love for wolves.
September 20, 2011
I've gotten my fiery passion for wolves once I read 'The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness' series by Michelle Paver. I was fascinated by the wolf character so that was when my attention shifted to Shaun Ellis. I didn't know about him til I was looking around on google and found out about him. I was immediately enthralled by the fact that he lived with wild wolves for 2 years! When I found out he wrote a book about how his life came to be with wolves, I picked it up from my local library immediately.
I finished the book within 3-4 days and I had a crazy dream of becoming like him one day (I'm only a young teen, haha). I think I have a very slim chance, but it was a dream that drove me for awhile.
Shaun Ellis is a definite inspiration to me. He proved the impossible -- well he just showed the world 'there is no such things as impossible'. He's brilliant.
Well, maybe one day I'll be able to achieve something like him. Just maybe.
Everyone should read this book. ;)
I finished the book within 3-4 days and I had a crazy dream of becoming like him one day (I'm only a young teen, haha). I think I have a very slim chance, but it was a dream that drove me for awhile.
Shaun Ellis is a definite inspiration to me. He proved the impossible -- well he just showed the world 'there is no such things as impossible'. He's brilliant.
Well, maybe one day I'll be able to achieve something like him. Just maybe.
Everyone should read this book. ;)
June 26, 2012
I thought this was a really interesting book. I enjoy reading and studying about wolves anyway but what I really enjoyed most about this book was the authors revolutionary thoughts on researching them. His approach to studying wolf packs by actually living an interacting with them, I found to be a brilliantly radical approach. It was disheartening, yet not surprising to see the ire raised in the general scientific community to his approach. The idea that we can somehow learn more about a species by keeping them in some sort of imaginary test tube is, to my mind, ridiculous. I found Ellis' ideas to be novel and I thought he ended up with a greater knowledge of this incredible animal. A great read for animal lovers.
November 25, 2014
This book was interesting and easy to read. I appreciated Ellis' relentless determination to learn about wolves and his desire to save them from man's encroachment. His methods are unorthodox, to say the least. He is more attuned to wolves than humans and that is one of the reasons I didn't give the book a higher rating. He marries and has children, but is away from his family so much that he can't be a good husband and father. He puts his third wife in a dangerous situation where she could have been killed. I did enjoy reading about his childhood and his time with the wolves in Idaho, but thought the latter part of the book was less interesting. This was a good book group selection as it generated a lot of discussion.
March 18, 2010
If you want to understand your dogs better, read this book. It absolutely fascinated me. I love wolves, but would never be able to do what this man did. Its obvious that you cannot really understand the inner workings of a creature different from you by merely observing, you must live with and become them in order to really unlock the mysteries around why they do what they do and what they are all about This is a remarkable book by a remarkable man. I truly wonder what the long range effects of living the way he did will will play out as he ages. But I would call him a pioneer and explorer! Science can sometimes get in the way of the truth.
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